Speaking broadly about the effects of the ‘cognitive revolution’ and its impact right across the economy, Mr Nash highlighted KPMG’s compliance services as one area prime for disruption.

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“I think the relationship with IBM Watson has the potential to revolutionise a range of compliance services,” Mr Nash said.

This type of analysis, he added, will provide the capacity to understand the integrity of outcomes, something he believes is crucial to a range of the firm’s compliance services.

“It means we will be able to draw far more robust conclusions and provide far more robust advice that goes into decision-making processes,” he said.

“You will find the right or preferred or superior outcome on a far more analytic and supportable basis based on data analysis and decision making.”

Mr Nash used the opportunity to refute claims this type of analytics and automation could have an adverse effect on labour markets, highlighting a recent KPMG report: Employees: An endangered species?

The report, authored by KPMG’s partner in charge of demographics Bernard Salt and US-based principal of innovation and enterprise solutions Cliff Justice, claims automation as a enabler of human capital productivity.

“Thanks to automation that keeps getting better in all categories, companies are able to scale and expand their services to more customers and more markets at a lower marginal cost," the report said.

“RPA [Robotic Process Automation] will allow some companies to free employees from low-lever work so they can focus on innovation and higher-value activities. Others may need to reinvent the workforce, finding new ways to deploy talent in order to remain relevant in the marketplace."